The Mitty

[RCMike]

This will take a couple posts, but now that I have been home for a couple days, it's time to get it going..

When we bought the car, one of the things I told my brother was that it would be HUGE to take the "Rock Vest" car back to Road Atlanta where it made so much history. Shortly after the purchase, Nissan was announced as the featured marque at "The Mitty"... I told Andy we don't have a choice, we have to go.

So, Kevin and I prepped the car.. New fluids and the right differential (4.38), at least a good guess..

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Everything ready, it was time to think about packing up..

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We loaded up the trailer, and on the Thursday a week before, I headed east. The timing was perfect.. I was able to meet Andy in Lake Havasu and load up his car as well.

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Friday morning, awesome morning, we were able to run in the "Desert Storm" poker run..

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After the poker run, Andy brought me back to the house, and I got in the truck. 2500 miles to go.. The tracker on the trailer had gone live that morning, so it was easy to follow along.. Friday evening, made it to Gallup..

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[RCMike]

Day 2 and 3 were spent crossing the heartland, lots of rain, lots of truck stops..

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I had built in some extra time in case of weather, so I was able to spend a couple days in Franklin, TN with our other brother.. Great town.

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Then it was off to Road Atlanta. I rolled down and got to the track, and when I arrived, they were waiting for me. This car was going to be right in front in the pro paddock, one spot over from the Grand Marshal. We had to wait for the track to go cold from the open test day they were having, then we started unloading.

While I was waiting, I had opened the trailer, and a couple people took photos. Soon, quite a few people were asking if this was really Rock Vest's car, and was he going to be there? I told them that yes it was, and we did not know if he would make it, but he had definitely been invited..

Andy and Roxie flew in, and when they arrived, we finished setting up our spot for the weekend.. Literally straight across the track from the starter.

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First time this car had been at Road Atlanta in 25 years..

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Thursday dawned beautiful, but we knew it would not last, so we got started with testing, so I could figure out where the track goes. Road Atlanta has several BLIND corners, and to be fast, you have to go on faith and send it. Not easy to do based on some YouTube videos and a couple comments from friends. So every lap of testing was going to be crucial. Ready to roll early..

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We got 2 sessions in, then the storm hit.. No way we were going to run in this rain.. We called it a day and got ready for the weekend.. Racing would start on Friday..

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[RCMike]

So Friday bright and early we got to the track, time for qualifying.. We warm up the car, and pull out onto pit lane..

http://vimeo.com/268360595

Just unreal..

Anyway, ran some laps, Thursday's test I started at 1:55 laps. By the end of qualifier 1 we were down to 1:45..

http://vimeo.com/268502933

Andy and Roxie found a spot on the bridge for photos.

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Was a fun run..

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During the run, saw John Morton's car in the dirt.. We saw them towed in after the session. After the qualifier Roxie drove me up the hill so we could watch some lines of the quick cars under the bridge thru turn 11.. Ended up watching an unreal battle between a modern Aston Martin GT car and an older stock car.. That Nova was nasty.. And the twin Shelby Mustangs were pretty fun to watch as well..

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We came back into the paddock and saw Rob from Z Car Garage. The engine had put a hole in the side of the block. Rob, and Randy, the car owner, got on the phone, and about 45 minutes later a decision was made. Pull it.

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With some better ideas of the line, went out for the afternoon SARCO street tire race.

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Car looks so funny on the skinny tires. That said, was a fun race. We did not know we were racing until about 15 minutes before the race and started like 81st, picked up 12 spots, and then there were no more cars to pass since the pace lap was a mess. Finally got some clean laps, ran about a 1:43 on the street tires.

We came back in after the race and found Rob and the Z Car Garage guys were busy. They had sourced a 40 year old engine in Atlanta, and it was on it's way to the track. In the mean time, pulling the parts needed to make the new engine run.. You can't leave the Grand Marshal without a car..lol

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Afternoon qualifier, back on slicks, ran 1:43 in traffic

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Next up Saturday, and the first race in our class..

[RCMike]

Friday night, we accomplished one of my missions for the weekend..

During the research for the car, we had understood there was a relationship between Rock Vest and Jim Fitzgerald. When we realized just how far back they went, and why, I wanted to put Rock's car in the Fitzy park at Road Atlanta for photos.. The door had carried a 4 leaf clover and the name Fitz forever. As the party started Friday night, someone moved the tractor blocking the entrance to the park, so I drove the car in and set up the shot. Andy took the photo..

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As we brought the car back to the pits, The Z Car Garage guys were finishing up for the night.. Engine had not seen fuel since the late 70s.. a nice afternoon of work and..

http://vimeo.com/268523869

Looks like John Morton would be driving the rest of the weekend after all..

[RCMike]

Saturday was busy, lots of track time, car just ran great.

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Ran the car in the "Nissan Feature" race, starting about 15th..

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Right up front, about 2nd to 5th hit each other nose to tail, and sent some fiberglass flying in the esses. We were in 4th gear coming through there, and there is just no where to go to avoid the flying bodywork.. Took a little nose damage.

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A little Gorilla tape, and we were good to go for the rest of the weekend. We are going to have to get molds made of these fenders. They are literally irreplaceable at this time, and unfortunately even though car to car contact is forbidden, it happens.. Our biggest concern is losing the artwork. A lot of this is hand painted, and that's not coming back soon.

Anyway, an hour after Nissan Feature, we went out for our first Sprint race.. Made some moves, decent start, but the traffic into turn 2 was crazy. Made two passes in the last lap..

http://vimeo.com/267069525

Time to put it away, and get ready for Sunday..

Sunday mornings in Rural Georgia, the track is required to be "quiet" from 10am until noon for the surrounding areas to hold their church services.

So the track held track tours during that time. Andy and Roxie were able to run a couple laps, and he was lucky with some pretty quick cars around him. One of the laps was fast enough that from the roof of the trailer I was watching Roxie trying to push the brake pedal on her side as they entered turn 12..lol

http://vimeo.com/268744497

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We started around 10th for the Sunday afternoon Sprint race, and I knew I was finally around fast enough cars that I could really run..

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Making moves and running hard..

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The last couple laps, John Morton broke the trans, only had 4th gear. Then the red and blue Daimler finally broke his 2.5 liter hemi v8, and then all hell broke loose. Unfortunately the Z lost his mind and..

http://vimeo.com/267258526

Yeah, that wall was coming up fast..

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Because of the total loss system, there just was not enough juice in the battery to refire the car, so I came in on the hook.

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The good news is there was no significant damage to the car, and we were able to drive it on the trailer..

Not the finish we wanted, but we were running in 5th at the time of the spin, and ran the 4th fast lap time, with a 1:41.. John Morton ran a 1:40.. I should have listened to Andy and just followed him in the qualifier..

Anyway, we packed it up and headed for Nashville.. Really a great weekend!

Next, in 6 days, we go to Monterey for the Spring Classic.. Preps are underway!

[spl310]

Very cool. Now get that Powerstroke painted black and gold as well as the trailer, and you will be all set.

[Gregs672000]

Wow Mike, awesome trip! So glad you didn't touch that wall, holy crap ola! Wouldn't be the first time for the Rock car. Would have been great for you and the Morton 240 to go head to head, looks like you would have been very competitive (I've always pulled for the underdog "live axle" Roadster vs the 240, of course!) Congrats on a great trip.

[theunz]

Great video as usual Mike. Seems like you only get passed on the straights, while you do all you passing in the corners. Bodes well for your driving ability! Looks like you need to stay away from that white, yellow, and blue Z!! Man, your doing what I would call living large! Keep those videos coming.

[ted heaton]

THANKS for the MItty report and videos.
Ted.

[Alvin]

Mike you absolutely kicked ass out there! It was a rush watching you makes moves on the front straight. ZCG crew was impressed with each lap...we wondered if you had your SR20VVL motor underhood

Here is some video I took of you and a few more shots:

[youtube][/youtube]









Again, it was just plain rad to see you, and watch you race!